Venezuela offers $100,000 reward for exiled opposition candidate

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) : Venezuelan authorities announced Thursday they are offering $100,000 for information leading to the capture of opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who has left exile in Spain and is on his way to Argentina.

Gonzalez Urrutia, who insists he beat Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the polls in July, was expected in Buenos Aires in the coming hours, a presidential source there told AFP.

“Our tour of Latin America begins. First stop: Argentina,” wrote Gonzalez Urrutia on X, sharing a statement that said he will meet with Argentine leader Javier Milei on Saturday, and calling on Venezuelans to rally in the central Plaza de Mayo.

The 75-year-old has pledged to return to his country to be sworn in as president on January 10 in place of Maduro, who is set to take the oath of office that day with the backing of the loyal military.

Venezuelan police published on social media Thursday a photo of the previously little-known ex-diplomat with the word “wanted” under the image.

Judicial sources confirmed to AFP that the poster will be displayed at airports and police checkpoints across the country.

Gonzales Urrutia fled to Spain in September after Maduro claimed victory in the troubled, economically distressed country’s July 28 election and cracked down hard on dissent.

Spain granted him asylum on December 20 after Venezuela announced conspiracy and racketeering charges against him.

The ‘wanted’ sign for opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia is seen in an image released on Instagram by Venezuela’s Scientific, Penal and Criminalistic Investigation Service Corps© – / CICPC/AFP

Venezuela declared Maduro the winner of a third six-year term in the July vote but the opposition cried foul, saying it has detailed polling station numbers that show Gonzalez Urrutia won handily.

The government has resisted intense pressure at home and abroad to release vote results that prove its claim of victory.

Street protests erupted after the election and degenerated into clashes with police, with 28 people dead, 200 injured and more than 2,400 arrested.

At least three detainees died in prison, while nearly 1,400 of those originally arrested have been released.

Maduro is a former bus driver hand-picked by the late socialist icon Hugo Chaves to succeed him upon his death in 2013.

Maduro has overseen the oil-rich country’s decline into economic ruin and been accused of acting like a dictator as he cracks down on dissent and clings to power.

Only a handful of countries, including Venezuelan ally Russia, have recognized Maduro as the winner of the July election.

Argentina does not recognize Maduro’s reelection, alongside the United States, European Union and several other Latin American countries.